Vermont passed a law saying that any unused and undocumented old public roads will, after July 2015, revert to private ownership. As a result, groups of volunteers are joining city officials to examine old records to see if they can find “ancient roads” and return them to public ownership.
Is this someone’s private yard, or a public road? In Vermont, some homeowners won’t know until July, 2015.
Flickr photo by paul+photos=moody.
One person bought land after a complete title search plus assurances from the town clerk that there were no public rights of way on the land. But then someone unearthed “hand written set of surveyors notes from 1793 hidden in an old leather ledger in the town office vault” that showed a road on the property. This was made into “an encumbrance on our deed,” and as a result, “Our life has been put on hold, our farm has been put on hold, and our business has been put on hold. It’s the ultimate nightmare.”
Meanwhile, other people find it “thrilling” to “to sift through records for two or three days and find a road.” The hope is that, by making these roads public, they can give more public access to Vermont’s natural scenic beauty.
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